


Relapse

by beaniesandcrowns



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-24 05:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21093812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beaniesandcrowns/pseuds/beaniesandcrowns
Summary: Betty returns to Riverdale after years and must catch up with everything she’s missed over the time she was gone.





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**Author's Note:**

  * For [bugheadtrash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bugheadtrash/gifts).

> This is a birthday present for Angie. We started talking due to a fanfic so it was only fitting that for your 18th birthday I write one for you! I hope you have the best day and enjoy!

Betty walked down the once-familiar Main Street through the town that, when she was 17, she only wanted to see in her rear view mirror.

  
_And look where she ended up. _

When Betty moved to New York for college, she swore to never return to the haunted town of Riverdale. She graduated from NYU and went on to write for the New York Times. There was nothing keeping her tied to Riverdale, only bad memories resided there. The few moments that she didn’t spend worrying about serial killer fathers or brainwashed mothers were now tainted with the day that Jughead, the one thing that kept her grounded through everything, decided the distance between NYU and Northwestern was too much and left her life almost as quickly as he entered.

And now she was back, the lady who had been running the Register with Alice’s disappearance and Betty’s refusal to return, had retired which forced Betty to return to Riverdale to either run it herself or run it until she found someone to do it in her place. She couldn’t bring herself to sell it, The Riverdale Register had been run by her family for generations and she couldn’t bear to ruin that.

  
—

Walking along the street to the Register, a display in the bookstore’s window caught her eye. ‘The town that dreaded sundown’, Jughead’s book.

Betty had bought a copy as soon as it came out and it currently resided in the bag she was carrying to the Register for her to put in her desk draw and read when she wanted to cry. There were some pages that were so blotted with tears that it was hard to read, ones describing her first kiss, I love you and the time she bared herself to someone, in more ways than one.

Names had been changed but the story was very much the same, the story of Aron, Vera, Beth and Jake has captured the hearts of all who read it. It told tales of love, friendship and heartache all whilst incorporating the mysteries of the town that is was set in, Resdale.

There were rumours that a film was on the horizon, but nothing was officially confirmed. She stood there looking at the display, she was so proud of Jughead, he had followed his dreams and had become the writer he had always wanted to become. She knew he had stayed in Riverdale, after college he went back and stayed with his father until he released his book and could afford an apartment of his own.

How did Betty know all of this? Veronica Lodge. Her and Archie had taken a break over college, but had inevitably found their ways back to each other after and now shared an apartment. Archie has plans to propose to Veronica but he had wanted to wait until Betty was back so he could ask her at Pop’s with the core 4 back together.

  
Which meant seeing Jughead.

Betty loved Archie, so of course she was going to help him with this, it just meant that she would have to see and talk to Jughead without bursting into tears and confessing her feelings for him that had never faded. Which shouldn’t be too hard. Right?

—

“Betty?”

She was snapped out of her thoughts by an oh so familiar voice, it had soothed her through all the hard times and still made her heart squeeze with affection, even after all these years.

  
She took a deep breath and went over the things she had discussed with her therapist in her weekly sessions back in New York. _In and out Betty. _

“Hi Jughead, how are you?” She plastered a carefully constructed smile on her face and prayed that Jughead had lost his ability to read through her fake smiles. He had not, but didn’t comment on it.

  
“Surprised, what are you doing in Riverdale? I thought you worked for the New York Times.”

He looked almost the same as he did when they were teenagers. He had filled out a bit and there was a small amount of facial hair dusted across his jaw. Apart from that, his hair was still stuffed under the woollen hat she had gifted him for Christmas when they were 12 and the dark circles were ever-present under his eyes.

“I’m working freelance for the moment, Jane retired at the Register so I’m here running it until I find someone to replace her then I’m heading back to New York. I also have to help Archie with his proposal to V.”

He chuckled, “Ah yes, another friend shoving my future eternal loneliness in my face. First Toni, then Fangs and Sweet Pea, now Archie.”

Betty smiles sadly, “I wish I could have gone to Cheryl and Toni’s wedding, but I had to go to Vancouver for a story on the effects of sex trafficking on survivors.”

It had been a harrowing trip, she had met a young woman a few years younger than her who had been trafficked over to Cuba only for the operation to be brought down a few days after she had arrived. I’m those few days, she had suffered at the hands of a large businessman in ways no woman should.

Betty has returned home and thanked all the gods above that she had doormen in her apartment block. She still didn’t sleep for a week after it.

“I read that, it was amazing Betty. Harrowing, but beautiful.”

She blushed and ducked her head, suddenly interested in the speck of dirt on her white converses. Accepting compliments was still hard for Betty after growing up having every inch of her life scrutinised by her mother, during the time of their relationship, Jughead had made a point of complimenting Betty at every opportunity he had although she never quite accepted it.

She glanced up at him and her heart wrenched at how softly he was looking at her, he knew what she was thinking and she could tell that he was going to question her on it.

She needed to go, _now_.

She took another deep breath, “It was really nice seeing you Jughead, I’m sure I’ll see you around town while I’m here but I need to get to the Register and start sorting out the advertisement.”

With that, she quickly spun around and walked off in the direction of the Register leaving Jughead confused and speechless on the sidewalk.

—

Betty only allowed her emotions to catch up with her when she was safely inside her office at the Register. She shut the door quickly and sank down against it. Hot tears slid down her cheeks and, for the first time in years, she allowed herself to just cry.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her dogeared copy of Jughead’s book and took out the Polaroid photo that was being used as a bookmark. It was one of their last times in Pop’s before they left for college, they were in their usual booth and Jughead’s arm was slung casually over her shoulder as she laughed over something he had just said. It was one of the last happy memories that they had together before everything crumbled away from under them.

Her phone dinged with a message from Archie:

** A: I’m doing it tonight, 7pm **

**B: I’ll be there Arch x **

_Great_.

She had just ran away from Jughead and now she had to spend three hours with him until Archie gained enough courage to ask Veronica to marry him. She checked the time, 4pm.

She had to get the advertisement and then make herself presentable enough for an engagement, but casual enough for Veronica to not know anything.

It probably wasn’t healthy, but Betty liked making a schedule in her head so she could be perfectly on time to everything. If something knocked it out of order, she would get stressed and often a panic attack would follow.

It kept her sane now she didn’t have the grounding feeling Jughead gave her, and that’s all that mattered to her.

—

Betty took a deep breath and smoothed down the short sundress she had paired with her usual white high tops.

Through the window, she could see Jughead typing away on his laptop, just like he had in high school. Veronica and Archie had probably been sidetracked so she either had the option of waiting outside for them or going inside and sitting with him where he might question her about their previous encounter that had happened that afternoon.

Thankfully, she was saved from both of those situations as the Andrews’ beaten up truck swung into the parking lot. They stepped out of the truck looking less put together than they usually would and Betty could already tell why they were late.

“B I’ve missed you so much!”, Veronica has been one of the few people Betty had kept in touch with when she left Riverdale. Veronica visited Betty when she had business meetings for her clothing line in New York. She had been over the moon when Betty mentioned that she was coming home for a while and had immediately planned several excursions for the pair to go on while she was there.

“It’s only been a few months V, it’s not as long as we’ve gone before.”

Veronica flung her arms around Betty’s neck and squeezed her tightly, “A day without you, Betty Cooper, is too long.”

Betty giggled as she pulled away and they walked arm in arm into the diner and Betty sucked in a breath when she locked eyes with Jughead. Oblivious to Betty’s reaction next to her, Veronica skipped happily over to the booth that Jughead was sat in and sat opposite him with Archie sliding in next to her, forcing Betty to perch at the edge of the seat next to Jughead.

“What do you guys want, I’ll go order at the counter and say hi to Pop.”

They all gave Betty their orders and she quickly stood up and speedily walked up to the counter.

“Do my eyes deceive me or is Betty Cooper in Riverdale?” Pop met Betty at the counter and pulled her into a warm bear hug. She giggled and returned the hug warmly.

“It’s good to see you Pop, you look well.”

He pulled away and went back around the counter where he pulled out a notepad to take their orders. “I am well, the diner is still running smoothly thanks to Veronica and I’m getting ready to retire and hand the ropes down to my son. How are you, are you enjoying New York?”

The conversation flowed easily between the two as he took their order and began making their food. There was a pause in the conversation when he took an order out to one of the tables waiting in which she started thinking about the last time she had been in Pop’s, the day before she left for college. With Jughead.

They had spent their last day before college never leaving each other’s side, they wandered around town and reminisced on all the memories they had made together. The day had ended in their shared bedroom at Jughead’s house, clinging to each other in other ways before they were separated until they went home for Thanksgiving. Although Betty never went home for Thanksgiving, or any holiday. She stayed in New York all through college and then stayed afterwards with her new job at the New York Times.

She didn’t even realise she was staring at Jughead in the booth with Archie and Veronica, laughing at something Veronica has said, until Pop returned, “What’s going on with you two, Jughead returned from college even more reclusive and moody than before and you never returned until now. You two were so perfect, I thought you would be the ones getting engaged first, not Archie and Veronica.”

Her eyes snapped to Pop, confused. He chuckled, “Archie hasn’t been this nervous since you told him you would never speak to him again when you were 10, he also showed me the ring the other day.”

Betty smiles sadly and sighed, “I don’t know what happened Pop, he rang me one day after class telling me that the long distance wasn’t working and that he wanted to take a break, I never heard from him again after that. I knew he had come back to Riverdale after college and I knew I wouldn’t be able to face him again so I just never came back until Jane retired and it wasn’t an option.”

He placed their drinks in front of her for her to take the table, “If it’s any consolation, I think he regrets that decision, I don’t think I’ve seen him truly smile since he finished college.”

—

The proposal was a success.

Unfortunately, Veronica insisted on going out to a bar to celebrate which wasn’t where Betty was expecting it to go. And she couldn’t say that she was pleased with her current predicament.

She was sat at the bar nursing some kind of fruity cocktail that Veronica had ordered her. Speaking of Veronica, she had dragged Archie who had then dragged Jughead along with him, leaving Betty alone.

It had been hard, sitting next to Jughead for hours in Pop’s. She couldn’t help but think of the times the four of them had spent in Pop’s when they were in High School. But in those memories, she was tucked into Jughead’s side, sipping on a vanilla milkshake and she would leave with the combined flavour of vanilla and chocolate on her tongue. Something that hadn’t happened, instead she perched on the edge of their shared seat and nibbled at a few fries whilst they all chatted about things that had happened in the town whilst Betty had been in New York, she tried to stay involved in the conversation but in the end gave up and sat quietly whist they all laughed over shared memories that Betty had missed.

She felt alone.

Betty sucked herself out of her memories and flagged down the bar tender, “I’m sorry but could I have two tequila shots please?” She want much of a drinker but it was going to be needed if she was going to sit here while her childhood best friends danced together on the dance floor and strangers stared at her ass.

The bar tender, who according to her name tag was called Angie, placed the two shots down in front of her and she took them in quick succession, “could I have another of these too please,” she pointed at the now empty glass that once contained her cocktail.

“Hard night?” Angie placed the cocktail in front of Betty and she sighed.

“My two best friends just got engaged so I have been dragged out here along with my ex-boyfriend who is currently on the dance floor with them because they left me here alone. I have been spending the night holding off a big-ass panic attack and if one more thing happens it’s going to tip me over the edge.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath, something she had practiced with her therapist in New York.

That was one of the reasons she needed to get back to New York ASAP, her weekly therapy sessions were one of the few things that kept her together and she wasn’t sure how long she would be able to function without them.

“Why don’t you just go home? I can cover for you if they ask where you are.”

“I shouldn’t, Veronica would never forgive me. Besides, we all came in one car so if I left I would be leaving everyone else stranded. Thank you though, I appreciate it.”

Not too long later, Jughead flopped down onto the barstool next to her, “I need your help, those two are off their faces and we need to get them home. I’ll get Archie, you get Veronica. Ok?”

Betty glanced over to the dance floor where Veronica was grinding on Archie who looked like he was about to rip her clothes off right there on the dance floor.

“Got it”

—

Their mission was fairly successful, Veronica put up a small fight but as soon as she was in the car she was fast asleep until they got them both to their apartment. The alcohol had taken effect on Betty whilst getting the drunk fiancés home so Jughead got them inside while Betty fell asleep in the passenger seat.

She was woken from her brief nap by Jughead lifting her into his arms and carrying her to his door. When he realised she was awake he carefully put her down and made sure she was steady on her feet before unlocking his door.

“Jughead, why did you take me back to your place?”, he lead her inside and onto the couch where he slumped down next to her.

“I didn’t know where you were staying so I brought you here. You can sleep in my bed and I’ll take the couch.”

She didn’t know why, probably the extra confidence from the alcohol or the fact that she could smell his familiar musk beside her, but she couldn’t take it anymore, “Jughead why did you break up with me?”

There was a stunned silence between them both as Betty berated herself for drinking and Jughead tried to come up with an appropriate answer. One she would accept.

“You deserved better than me Betty, you always did. I was never good enough for you.”

She was stunned by his answer, “It wasn’t because the long distance was too much?”

He shook his head and she could see tears forming in his eyes, “I had to make it believable so you would accept it, I knew you would protest if I told you the truth.”

A new emotion took over her, anger. Anger that she had spent the past few years drowning in her anxiety because she thought that the man she loved more than anything in the world had broken up with her because he thought _he wasn’t good enough._ Anger over the fact that she had spent hours crying in bed over what could have been because he thought _he wasn’t good enough._

“Damn straight. Jughead did you ever think that maybe you were the one thing that held me together through all that shit in high school? Or maybe if I thought you weren’t good enough for me that I would never have gotten together with you altogether? When you broke up with me it _broke me_ Jughead. I feel sorry for the poor girl who dormed with me who had to listen to me crying myself to sleep _every night_ until Veronica staged me an intervention and made me go to therapy which I have been going to ever since.”

She tried to hold back the tears but it was no use, they slid down her cheeks and dripped into her lap. She looked up and locked eyes with him, “I don’t think I’ve truly smiled since our last day together before we left.”

He sighed and pulled her into his lap where she curled into his chest and she just cried. Pretty quickly, she felt tears fall onto her shoulder from his face. She raised her head and slowly wiped them away with her thumb.

“I’m sorry.”

It came out as a cracked whisper as he gently cradled her face, inches away from his. She smiled gently, “When we were sat there on the couch like that it reminded me of the night of Veronica’s confirmation, in your trailer.”

His hands slid to her waist and her arms locked around his neck. “The night we got Tall Boy kicked out of the serpents?”

She glared at him and he chuckled lightly and tightened his arms around her, “The night we had sex for the first time and got back together after I made the stupid decision to try and break up with you to protect you from Penny.”

Slowly, Betty changed her position so that she was straddling his legs and leant down so that their foreheads were touching. Scared she was crossing a line, she started to pull away but he countered it by cradling her face and pulling his lips to hers.

She deepened the kiss and opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to slip in and twist with hers.

Things started to escalate as his hands reached for the zipper of her sundress and pulled the top down.

“Wait, Jughead hang on.”

He pulled away and looked up at her, worried he had gone too far, “What, do you want me to stop, it’s ok.”

She gave him a smile so full of love and adoration as she leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, different from the heated ones they had been sharing just before.

“No I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, but I’m really not.” She took a deep breath, “I love you, I never stopped loving you, Jughead.”

He grinned and pulled her in for a long, loving kiss. “I love you too. Betty, I could never stop loving you no matter how hard I tried.”

She giggled and smashed their lips together and she started unbuttoning his shirt.

The night that followed was perfect, Betty Cooper was head over heels in love with him.

It was like a relapse in time, and it was perfect.


End file.
